Results for Galaxie 500

interviews

492Damon and Naomi

After the breakup of their first band - the hugely influential indie group Galaxie 500 - husband and wife team Damon and Naomi considered an early retirement from music. But then they began writing songs together. Twenty years later, they're one of rocks longest-running duos. This week Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang drop by the studio to perform music from their new album, False Beats and True Hearts, and share some tips for keeping a band and a relationship going strong over the decades. The key, says Damon, is change.

The couple met when they were just teenagers - students at the same Manhattan prep school. It wasn't until college that they and Harvard classmate Dean Wareham began making music together. (They also went to school with another hot touring act from the past year) With Damon on drums, Naomi on bass, and Wareham on guitar and lead vocals, Galaxie 500 helped to define the dreamy lo-fi sound many call slowcore. The band broke up in 1991 after releasing only three studio albums, but unlike so many of their peers, Damon and Naomi aren't interested in a reunion tour. They say they prefer to keep moving forward. They have eight studio albums to their name and can boast collaborations with musicians like Bhob Rainey, Smokey Hormel and the Japanese band Ghost. As Jim observes, that love of collaboration is just part of their rhythm section mentality.

105Damon Krukowski

Between your phone, your computer, your music, digital media is so common place you likely don't even think about it. Damon Krukowski, author and member of Galaxie 500 and Damon and Naomi, thinks we should be more selective. In his new book The New Analog Damon argues that aspects of analog“need to persist”in the digital world. Two concepts key to his argument are“signal”- the message in a phone conversation and“noise”- the sounds from the street as you speak on your cellphone. Digital media allows us to easily ignore the noise and focus just on the signal, Damon says we need to pay attention to both. He talks with Jim and Greg about a concept he calls Thick Listening -“listening to the signal framed and enriched by noise.”You hear the song, but you also hear the sound of the recording studio, the producer talking, etc and it all results in a better experience. Ultimately, Damon doesn't think analog trumps digital, but both have their benefits and need to be consdired together.

76Ray Padgett

Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot talk to author Ray Padgett about his book, Cover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time. They discuss what makes a good cover version of a song, as well as what makes a bad one. Plus, they dig into some notable rock covers that Ray mentions in the book. Then, Jim and Greg share a few of their favorite cover songs:

Jim

reviews

2883Damon and Naomi Within These Walls

Husband and wife duo Damon and Naomi also have a new album out called Within These Walls. The two were founding members of the "slowcore" group Galaxie 500, and fans will hear that same dream-folk, Fairport Convention-inspired sound here. But, Jim and Greg explain that the duo have branched out more on this album by including a brass and string section. Jim, who says that he loves pretty much anything Damon and Naomi have ever done, is impressed by the experimentation. It led to even more beauty and lushness. He gives Within These Walls a Buy It. Greg would also encourage listeners to get the album, but takes issue with some of the other instruments. In particular, he says that this album would get a much more enthusiastic rating with the omission of jazz great Bhob Rainey's soprano sax, which Greg describes as horribly "Kenny G"-like. That said, it gets a Buy It from both critics.

2506Beach House Devotion

The Baltimore duo Beach House has a new album out called Devotion. This is the indie pop band's second effort, and they are back with a slow, dreamy sound that many compare to Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500. Jim and Greg agree — this is definitely a sound they've heard before, and much better. Greg says Devotion is a one-tempo album and challenges anyone to differentiate one track from the other. Jim agrees and can't understand why the band is getting such hype. The Beach House album gets two Trash Its.

rock doctors

1305Pat

In the HMO-free universe of the Rock Doctors, everyone is entitled to better musical health. This week's patient is Pat from Chicago, IL. Pat wrote to Sound Opinions H.Q. for advice on how to get better acquainted with hip hop, and we immediately set her up for an appointment with Drs. Kot and DeRogatis. Pat explains that she's generally fairly hip to music, preferring doses of Bob Dylan, Wilco and Galaxie 500. But when it comes to hip hop, she's clueless, and in an effort to expand her musical horizons and have some music in common with her rap-loving nephews, she asks for some guidance.

Greg gives the first prescription. He's not sure if his approach will be too radical, but judging from Pat's tastes, he decides to go out on a limb. He recommends the patient listen to Outkast's fourth album Stankonia. Greg admits to Pat that some moments might be slightly too "gangsta" or misogynistic for her, but he hopes that the first-rate songwriting and bold beats of tracks like "Ms. Jackson" will win her over.

Jim's prescription is 3 Feet High and Rising, the classic hip hop album by De La Soul. Jim thinks Pat will respond well to the creative stories being told by the three geeky hippies from Long Island. He also thinks she will appreciate some of the more recognizable samples, like Hall and Oates' song "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)."

A week later Pat finishes her treatment and reports back to the doctors. She starts off by breaking the bad news to Greg: Stankonia is not for her. She felt there were too many misogynistic moments like the song, "We Luv Deez Hoez," and wouldn‘t feel comfortable sharing this album with her nephews. But, on the brighter side, she really enjoyed the De La Soul album. It’s definitely something she could see herself listening to in the future, and she particularly liked the song, "Eye Know," which samples both Steely Dan and Otis Redding. So, while the treatment wasn't a total success, Pat is on the road to better musical health. And, more importantly, she now has more hip bragging rights with her friends.